04/23/24
August 23, 2010
Juli Inkster Disqualified After TV Viewer Reports Violation: A fan watching the LPGA's Safeway Classic on television Saturday helped to deny Juli Inkster a chance to become the oldest player in the history of the women's tour to win a tournament. Inkster, a Hall of Famer, was disqualified for using a weighted device to warm up on the Ghost Creek Course in North Plains, Ore.
On one hand, it's the rule. She should know it and follow it.
On the other hand, golf's wide assortment of nitpicky rules which have nothing to do with the actual play bug the hell out of me.
posted by TheQatarian at 11:18 AM on August 23, 2010
"Inkster told an LPGA media relations staffer that she was trying to stay loose during a 30-minute wait at the tee" but "it had no effect on my game whatsoever". Really? Staying loose didn't help the rest of the round? I suspect it might have done.
I refer the readership to Lawrence Donnegan in the Guardian who occasionally comes down off his high horse for long enough to write some decent golf pieces:
"The rules of golf are dumber than carrots, as the American writer Dan Jenkins once wrote but in the great IQ race of golfing life they are in a photo-finish with highly-paid professionals who don't know their business. Put the two together and you have the perfect storm of farce..."
If you're a professional golfer, golf is your business and you should know the rules. If you don't, you should learn them. They're not nearly as complicated as they appear to be, especially if you have a golfing background.
posted by JJ at 11:35 AM on August 23, 2010
That said, I learnt one at the weekend that I didn't know (I tend to think I know everything, often not just in golfing terms, so I was surprised). I was playing with my father (who is now a qualified rules official) in a foursomes match against another pair. At the final hole, they hit their second shot through the green and very nearly out of bounds. One of the boundary posts was in the line of their shot, so they removed it from the ground. My dad wandered over and said that as it was a friendly game, it didn't matter, but that for future reference, you're not allowed to touch the boundary posts. Ever.
They replaced it before playing the shot, but even doing that does not, according to the rules, excuse removing it in the first place. Under tournament conditions, my dad and I would have won the hole and salvaged a half match, but as all four of us were still quite drunk from the night before, we let them away with it, which seemed noble and good until I missed an 8 foot putt.
posted by JJ at 11:44 AM on August 23, 2010
Maybe this is common knowledge with many, but I'd like to know: Where do these viewers come up with a phone number to make calls that immediately to the rules officials at these tournaments?
posted by dyams at 02:05 PM on August 23, 2010
It seems like a silly rule but, A) It's her job to know the rule and follow it. B) JJ's point is a fair one - If she is allowed to "loosen up" during a 30 min. (!?!) wait, then everyone else following the rules is at a disadvantage.
Does anyone know what caused a 30 min. wait at the 10th tee?
posted by MrNix67 at 02:30 PM on August 23, 2010
Maybe this is common knowledge with many, but I'd like to know: Where do these viewers come up with a phone number to make calls that immediately to the rules officials at these tournaments?
Commercials lead me to believe yellowbook is quite amazing.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:52 PM on August 23, 2010
I am sure that the TV viewer felt extremely proud of himself or herself, the purity of the game and all. No doubt football, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, etc. could learn something from allowing TV viewers to report on infractions and errors that they see during a game or event.
On second thought, is there anyway to keep the freaking fans out of the game?
posted by graymatters at 03:25 PM on August 23, 2010
automatic DQ for having used the term "it is what it is"
posted by wowjimi at 04:59 PM on August 23, 2010
Yeah. The Northern Irish version's much better: "It is what it is so it is."
posted by JJ at 06:07 PM on August 23, 2010
I sometimes wonder whether the jobsworth bureaucratic accountancy element of golf is what makes it appeal to the boardrooms. Not that I would ever want it to go away from the game, because I think stories like this are hilarious, and they happen so often, weaving a rich tapestry of failure.
posted by etagloh at 01:45 AM on August 24, 2010
The Northern Irish version's much better: "It is what it is so it is."
Is it yeself?
/Great grandma from Ballymena.
posted by owlhouse at 02:57 AM on August 24, 2010
I think you'll find it's pronounced "Ballameena hey".
posted by JJ at 03:40 AM on August 24, 2010
I'm amazed at the number of people in the comments section of the linked story excusing Inkster and blaming the person who called in. The prevailing sentiment is, "It's a stupid rule, so it shouldn't be assessed!"
It's a rule, and I don't even think it's that obscure. Know your business or pay the penalty.
posted by wfrazerjr at 01:48 PM on August 24, 2010
Seems like a dumb rule, but perhaps someone with more understanding of the rationale behind this rule could shed some light on it.